She LOVES Intact Dogs

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Rigby

Dingbat

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 6:21am PST


	Ok a little play on another thread. Rigby has always loved intact herding breed males. She can spot them from a mile away, and acts all lovey/in their face. With that I figured, fair enough she's just a flirt. Then I noticed something else... Our obedience class instructor breeds Aussies, so the dogs she brings in are almost always intact. Rigby falls head over heels each time. A few weeks ago, she brought a female to class instead of a male. And Rig had a similar reaction. The last week someone brought in a Sheltie whom was just starting her heat, and again Rigby was just oddly "flirty". Altered dogs, she could take or leave. Rigby is spayed, and has been since we brought her home. The dogs she has most contact with (Cobain, Oz and a handful of others) are all spayed/neutered. It's not a hugely pressing issue. Just something I am curious about. The males I can understand, but it's the females that has me most stumped

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Sabi

When the night- closes in I will- be there

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 8:58am PST


	I have observed over the years that some dogs are drawn to intact dogs of both sexes. I am not a vet, but I think if you watch it is generally insecure dogs that do this and I believe it has something to do with identity. With the trend for early spay/neuters IMO we have effectively caused a sexual identity crisis. I have noticed a rise in behavior issues that seems to be related to the removal of reproductive organs. Canines naturally create a social structure based on sexual identity and by removing those hormones we disrupt the order of things thereby producing a false stucture. For an already insecure dog this seems to produce an overboard attraction to those animals that do still have these hormones. Again, I am not a professional these are just my observations. Hope that makes sense

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Rigby

Dingbat

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 9:30am PST


	That actually makes a lot of sense, especially pertaining to Rigby. The shelter told us she was estimated to be 3 years old at the time of intake with them. Yet, they also said that she was spayed whilst in their care. I don't have a ton of experience with female dogs, but from what I understand she would have had somewhat developed nipples had she been spayed after her first heat and reached sexual maturity. This leads me to believe that she may have been just under a year old (or somewhere in there) at the time of her adoption. While she has not grown any taller that I've observed, in the past year or so, she still seems quite immature. Combine that with her already insecure behaviour, her "identity crisis" of sorts would make sense. Thanks!

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Cohen CD RE- ADC FDCh-S- CGN HIC

The Monster

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 9:41am PST


	Cohen loves 99% of intact males. The only one I've ever noticed her take issue with is a GCh Italian Greyhound owned by a friend of mine who is, by her admission, a total dick. Other than that, Cohen tends to do quite a bit of play bowing and gets a case of the zoomies when she meets an intact boy. I can't say I've ever noticed her getting flirty with intact females though. She lives with one, and they don't pay much attention to each other.

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Rigby

Dingbat

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 11:01am PST


	With Rigby, it really only seems prominent in the small/medium herding breeds. GSDs and Belgians don't warrant a second glance from her, and entirely different breeds - Labs, Beagles, Huskies etc. get the same response as the GSDs. I'm guessing if Rigby and Mega were let loose together, Rig probably wouldn't pay too much special attention either. I actually never noticed the female response until a few weeks back. Just saw the anti-intact dogs thread pop back up so I thought I'd post an opposite reaction

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Jackson Tan

Lad about town

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 8:07pm PST


	JT wants to know when the irresistible Rigby is coming round his place for a date. He says he's got everything she's looking for! And she'll forget all about these foppish Aussies when she gets a gander of his raffish good looks!

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Rigby

Dingbat

Barked: Tue Feb 26, '13 4:15am PST


	JT I don't think she's ever met a Kelpie before. I'm sure she would be entirely smitten

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Dahlia

Gone, But Not- Forgotten.

Barked: Tue Feb 26, '13 6:15pm PST


	Dahlia was that way around an intact male. I swear she could smell testosterone clear across the 1.5 acre dog park! She was so shameless; she might as well have worn a tube top, fishnet stockings, and cheap perfume!